View full sizeOregon Red CrossTyler Grant, an emergency preparedness worker for the Oregon Red Cross, hangs a picture part of "The Art of Disaster: Views on the Japanese Earthquakes." The exhibit, available for viewing at the Oregon Red Cross building in North Portland until August, features 24 art pieces from students of Lake Oswego High School.

When an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan earlier this year, Tyler Grant thought it would be a good opportunity to have students learn about disaster planning.

When the Red Cross emergency preparedness presenter pondered some more, he also thought it would be a good opportunity to have students express what they thought of the disaster through art.

The end result of those ideas is now displayed on the second floor of the Red Cross building in Portland as a student art gallery inspired by the disaster. The gallery features 24 pieces drawn by Lake Oswego High School students.

"This was a great chance to find a less-structured, but interactive approach to teaching about emergency preparedness," he said. "Also, to be able to chronicle different perspectives of this event helps keep it alive."

The exhibit, titled "The Art of Disaster: Views on the Japanese Earthquake," went up on Wednesday and will be on display until the end of August.

View full sizeOregon Red CrossArt pieces inspired the Japan earthquake and tsunami from earlier this year are currently on display on the second floor of the Oregon Red Cross building in Portland. The 24 pieces of artwork in the exhibit were produced by students from Lake Oswego High School.

After coordinating with an art teacher at Lake Oswego High School in April, Grant said he gave students tips on how to prepare for a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, the next month. Students were then tasked with coming up with an art piece inspired by the Japan earthquake and tsunami as one of their last assignments for the school year, he added.

All of the artwork was finished and sent to Grant earlier this month. Only one art class could participate because there was limited space to hang the pieces, though Grant said he plans to do another plan in the future.

"There are some pieces that are striking and very engaging," he said. "And there are others that are more straight-forward but there's so much more depth to them than you would initially expect. Overall, I'm very pleased."

The exhibit is available from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday through Saturday. After the exhibit ends, Grant said the pieces will be returned to the school.

"The goal was to select something current and something that could hit close to home," he said. "It's unfortunate when natural disasters happen, but they also always present an opportunity to learn and grow."